As the campaign to promote kindness in Huntington UFSD continues unabated, Woodhull Intermediate isn’t being left behind.
“At our last meeting, the Eagles’ student council developed a plan to reinforce the concept of using kind words and caring for our fellow Woodhull Eagles,” first year Principal Lara Gonzalez said. “We would like every student in every class to think of a kind word, saying or phrase; a word of encouragement or just something they would like to hear to cheer them up at school. Our goal is to collect all the kind words written on leaves and display them in the main hallway on the tree display.”
Woodhull’s student body consists of 510 students spread across grades four, five and six. The building first opened in January 1967, upon the closing of Roosevelt Elementary School, which was later demolished during the town’s Urban Renewal initiative. Roosevelt was on a site that totaled about three acres. Another ten acres surrounding the site was later acquired and Huntington Elementary School was constructed and opened in 1969. Today the building is named Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School.
But, back to Woodhull. The Woodhull property was originally considered as the site of a new Huntington High School in the 1950s. It was later purchased for use as the location of an elementary school.
Today’s Woodhull School is a proud place with students who look like America. The youngsters come from every conceivable background, but what is remarkable is how well everyone gets along. It’s the proverbial melting pot with everyone coming together for a common purpose and with similar goals.
Woodhull’s kindness campaign fits in nicely with the school’s social and emotional learning curriculum, “which promotes a community environment in the classroom,” said Julian Watts, dean of students. “Teachers have been encouraged to embed this activity in their SEL lessons.”